Peppers spray - MMA combo

MMA - Illustration, from Flicker.com

OK, so it wasn't the MMA (mixed martial arts) alone that did the trick - a healthy doze of pepper spray was part of the self-defense combo.

Still, it is no doubt that learning martial arts can be of great help when you suddenly find yourself in a dangerous situation like the California based woman here did.

Also, it is definitely a major equalizer to have access to some sort of weapon - here a can of pepper spray.

A Sanger woman used mixed martial arts skills on a man claiming to be a door-to-door salesman.
It was around noon Thursday, when Mayra Villanueva heard the doorbell ring. She looked out and saw it was a man dressed as a Dish Network consultant.
She opened the door and that's when he threw a punch, and tried to get into the house.

Anyone else having good or bad experiences with using martial arts and/or pepper spray for self-defense? Feel free to comment below!

A pen for self-defense

Arizona -- As we all know, a number of everyday items - and things you regularly carry on your person in particular - can come in handy in a self-defense situation. The unassuming pen is definitely on that short list of things you could potentially grab for if you ever found yourself in a tight spot.

So far, so good. Only problem is that most pens really don't stand much of anything before they break. Heck, a lot of them don't even function properly purely as writing tools...

Enter the Tactical Pens and similar special designed self-defense pens. These tools are - in addition to being pens (duh) - made to withstand serious abuse without splitting, bending or breaking.

The end to all your troubles? Well of course not. Like everything else they have their advantages and disadvantages, and you will of course be at least somewhat trained in the application. And also, keeping it in your purse or briefcase - you know the usual hiding place for your pepper spray canister - won't do you any good at all.

Unruly students

Georgia -- So, you're a teacher for special needs children and you're having a couple of unruly students in your class.

Two disruptive, teenage students refuse to return to their seats - what do you do? That's simple, you just pepper spray them.

At least that ways the solution one female Bibb County teacher used recently in her classroom, according to 41nbc.com.

This really makes me wonder if she was only having a permanent brain meltdown or simply had lost it temporarily.

At least it goes to show that a lot of teachers unfortunately don't have the skills or training needed to control potential violent conflicts and other similar problems at school.

The nose-hold

Are you telling me this "biting various parts" woman is having an anger management problem? And another thing - what's so unusual about the nose-hold? Or is this a perhaps a secret Maori warrior variation that I don't know about?

Story:
New Zealand -- A New Plymouth police constable was forced to apply a nose-hold on an offender to try to stop her from biting her. The unusual hold was clamped on a woman in February after police were called to a disturbance.

When the female officer and her partner arrived, they found the woman arguing with her son. She then turned on the constables, spitting in their faces, jumping on them and trying to bite various parts of their body.

Despite being pepper-sprayed, the 34-year-old unemployed New Plymouth woman punched the male officer three times in the head. The female officer tried to restrain her, but the woman clamped her jaws down on her arm, piercing her uniform and skin.

After the constables finally managed to restrain her with a nose-hold they needed medical treatment for cuts and severe bruising.

In court, the woman admitted injuring with intent and assaulting police. Her defence counsel said his client was undergoing counselling for several issues, including anger management.

Source

Unsafe deposit

California -- A businessman en route to make a deposit in Antioch was robbed in a bank parking lot Tuesday afternoon.

The 3:24 p.m. robbery occurred at a Bank of America branch parking lot. The 59-year-old victim had exited his vehicle when a pickup truck pulled up.

A man exited the passenger side, sprayed the victim in the face with peppers spray and tried to grab a deposit bag. The victim fought back but the assailant overwhelmed him.

Source

Hazards at work, 29

North Carolina -- A prisoner at the a Correctional Institute will face attempted rape charges after allegedly attacking a female guard and attempting to rape her in a bathroom at the prison on Sunday.

According to the Lillington Police Department, a female sergeant was working on paperwork in her office when the 40-year-old inmate entered the office. The door to the office automatically shut when he entered.

The sergeant was attempting to locate a clothes hanger for the inmate when he began pushing her into a bathroom. She fell to the floor with enough force to tear a bathroom toilet from its permanent mounting on the floor when she hit it with her neck.

Once he had her on the floor, the inmate was attempting to remove the woman's clothes with one hand while he tried to lock the bathroom door with the other.

The guard attempted to use her protective pepper spray to fend the attacker off, but was not successful. She also began screaming for help as she fought off her attacker.

Two prison employees told Lillington police they heard her screams and went to help. They went into the bathroom to find the inmate on top of the woman. They physically removed him and placed him in handcuffs.

Source

Pepper spray

Pepper spray is an OK self-defense tool. Still, and this is important, it does not always work effectively.
You must actually get it into your hand, the spray may be taken away from you, the effect may not disable or stop the attacker, you may take higher risks because you feel too secure, and so on. Let's not forget either that it is illegal to carry in many countries.

Story:
Michigan -- A Ferndale man faces charges he punched and robbed a female massage therapist he had called to his house for service.

By the time he was arrested, the woman had pepper sprayed him and Ferndale police had stunned him twice with a Taser.

The 36-year-old man apparently rubbed the massage therapist the wrong way shortly after she arrived at his house about 4 a.m. Saturday, police said. She was concerned because he was giggling and laughing and acting strangely, police said.

After the woman arrived, the suspect told her to go with him to a bedroom on the second floor of the house, police said. But the woman told the suspect she was uncomfortable once she entered the room and turned to go back down the stairs.

"He grabbed her by the arm to stop her," a police spokesman said. "Then she turned and sprayed him with a can of pepper spray."

The woman made her way down the stairs as the man followed her, grabbing her and punching her along the way. She ran to a window to yell for help and he repeatedly punched her in several areas of her body.

The woman made it to the side door, but the man grabbed her purse from her as she headed outside, police said. The woman yelled for her purse as the suspect went back inside his house and turned out the lights. The woman called police on her cell phone and the man came outside briefly and threw her purse back at her. She told police she checked the purse and found more than $100 missing.

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"Rape culture"

Most people think violence against women is a women's issue, and why wouldn't they? Girls and women ages 12 to 24 are at the greatest risk for experiencing rape or sexual assault, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and almost all perpetrators are men.

The point is not to attack men but to understand that the society we live in makes people believe that rape is a women's issue and women need to deal with it alone.

Our society responds to the threat of sexual assault by telling our daughters not to walk alone at night, to always have Mace and to take self-defense classes. This is a reactionary response that may bring the number of completed rapes down, but not the number of attempts. To work more effectively toward ending rape, we must educate men and chip away at the rape culture we live in.

Source

Can defend herself

Without saying anything about Polk being guilty of murder or not, I have to agree with this statement.

Story:
Even after a man punches a smaller woman twice in the face, smears pepper spray in her eyes, pulls her hair and bites her on the arm, she could start defending herself and win the fight, a self-defense expert testified Friday in the trial of Susan Polk.

'You would be hurt and slightly injured, but if it's the last breath you're going to take, you're going to defend yourself,' said Laura Castro-Shelley, a martial arts instructor.

Source

Learn more about how hundreds of women have defended themselves:

Women Can

Lady, you're nuts!

A would-be robber picked the wrong victim April 18 when he knocked a 59-year-old woman from her scooter in Saveland Park, Milwaukee.

The woman was taking an afternoon cruise in the park to feed the birds when a man approached her and demanded money, according to police.

She said she didn't have any. The man told her he wasn't leaving empty-handed. Perhaps assuming her mode of transport made her an easy target, he struck the woman in the face, knocking her from the battery-powered scooter.

Bad move. The woman struck her assailant in the knee with her cane before landing a swift knee in his crotch.

With the man writhing on the ground, police said, she doused him with pepper spray. He reportedly ran from the area screaming, "Lady, you're nuts."

Source

Pepper-spray case continues

A trial is set for April 2007 for a Cadillac teen whose mother filed a lawsuit after the girl was pepper-sprayed by a city police officer at her school.

The female police officer approached her and put her hand on the girl's shoulder, prompting a confrontation, the details of which are disputed by the two sides.

City police reports stated witnesses said Henry swung at Gregg when she came up behind her and put her hand on her shoulder. Gregg then used pepper spray to subdue the girl.

Source